In my front garden, the main area is paving, with two flowerbeds bordering
it. One along the front wall and one a mirror of my neighbours to make the
border between the two houses. There are foot high metal posts in the
ground where some sort of chain mini-fence used to be but it's all just
overgrown now. I hacked it all back in a big way last weekend and put down
poison to clear what was left.

My problem is that my neighbour has big overgrown green-stemy like things
(you'd never know I'm not a plant person!!) that flower for a couple of
weeks of the year and look green for the rest! I think they will easily
grow back into my flowerbed without something to stop them so this is what
I'm looking for. I want some sort of hardy shrub that I can plant along a
5m stretch that will grown to about 2 feet tall and resist other things
growing over it. Be nice if it looks a bit more interesting than your
average plain hedge too!

Any suggestions? I've seen Sarcococca Hookeriana on the web which looks
like it could be nice. Not sure if it fits the bill though ...?



a

On Wed, 23 Jul 2003 21:16:15 +0100, "al"
wrote:

In my front garden, the main area is paving, with two flowerbeds bordering
it. One along the front wall and one a mirror of my neighbours to make the
border between the two houses. There are foot high metal posts in the
ground where some sort of chain mini-fence used to be but it's all just
overgrown now. I hacked it all back in a big way last weekend and put down
poison to clear what was left.

My problem is that my neighbour has big overgrown green-stemy like things
(you'd never know I'm not a plant person!!) that flower for a couple of
weeks of the year and look green for the rest! I think they will easily
grow back into my flowerbed without something to stop them so this is what
I'm looking for. I want some sort of hardy shrub that I can plant along a
5m stretch that will grown to about 2 feet tall and resist other things
growing over it. Be nice if it looks a bit more interesting than your
average plain hedge too!

Any suggestions? I've seen Sarcococca Hookeriana on the web which looks
like it could be nice. Not sure if it fits the bill though ...?



a

There's quite a range of possibilities to choose from, although
keeping to 2ft is a little difficult. Also, a lot depends on your soil
and location, and winter conditions. I suggest you go to your local
garden centre and ask. Here are a few suggestions for small reasonably
hardy evergreen shrubs that aren't too fussy about soil etc, although
nothing does very well if something else is overgrowing it:

Dwarf hebes, many types to choose from but some get large.
Cistus varieties, ditto, but likes it hot and dry.
Lavenders, e.g. Lavandula Hidcote, well drained soil.
Small Ceanothus, e.g. C. thyristiflorus repens
Senecio 'Sunshine' (aka Brachyglottis Dunedin hybrid Sunshine)
Skimmia japonica 'Robert Fortune', or s.j. 'Fructu-alba'
Santolina varieties
Sarcocca humilis
Some heathers, e.g. Erica Erigena varieties (was called e.
mediterranea or e. hibernica) e.g. W.T.Rackliff, Brightness
Escallonia rubra 'Woodside' is low-growing (others aren't)
Halmium lasianthum

There's loads more if you include the deciduous shrubs such as
potentillas, spireas, fuschias etc, or if you have an acid soil, when
you could include dwarf rhododendrons. Another possibility would be a
selection of very dwarf conifers, giving a range of shapes and colour
but no flowers.



--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net